This ’59 Sedan DeVille is emblematic of the sheer bigness that has been my summer this year. That’s the gist of my essay for today, to spare any of you from any unnecessary reading in a search for substance beyond that. And what an incredible summer it has been. Waiting for the southbound 147 bus at the end of July, all two-and-a-half tons of this aqua beauty came bounding down North Sheridan Road almost as reinforcement of my philosophy and mission to make the absolute most of this season. I know I succeeded, and with this being the last, official Tuesday of summer, I’m ready to embrace fall with no regrets after three months that included a destination vacation, at least five major art festivals, countless beach days, four museum visits, and an epic, nine-day road trip partially spent traversing my home state of Michigan.
Now, for a little on this ’59 Cadillac before I get started with the other things, in order to provide some foundation for my basic metaphor. In my mind, ’59 is the peak year for midcentury car styling excess, and Cadillacs, from the most prestigious of GM brands, were going to be the most flamboyant by nature and default. This DeVille has all of the things: mile-high tailfins that each housed twin, bullet-shaped taillamps, a giant, bubble-shaped, wraparound windshield as well as a panoramic rear window, length for days, and otherwise exaggerated styling. There were also two different rooflines one could order with your four-door hardtop DeVille (or downmarket Series 62): the four-window design seen here, or a six-window configuration with a small rear-quarter window aft of the back doors.
Unlike a decade later, when Cadillac buyers would show a clear preference for the more expensive DeVille over the lesser Calais models, sales of the closed ’59 Series 62 models bested those of the DeVille by about 6,200 units (59,600 vs. 53,400). DeVille prices were about 10% higher than those of the corresponding Series 62 models, though all were powered by the same 390 cubic-inch V8 engine with 325 horsepower.
S’mores on Huyck Lake. Coldwater, Michigan.
Curiously, both four-door versions of the DeVille shared a $5,498 base price (about $57,800 in 2023), and weighed about the same, at just over 4,800 pounds. Our featured car is one of about 12,300 four-window sedan DeVilles manufactured for ’59, so for it to be trucking along in traffic some sixty-four years later (sporting late-model Cadillac wheel covers) was a noteworthy occurrence as observed by some guy casually waiting for a bus. In all of its size and visual spectacle on display, it reminded me how my summer had been unfolding up to that point, with my commitment to attend a new-to-me happening or festival each weekend as I was able, in addition to just taking it easy.
Dinner at a pub-and-grub in Alpena, Michigan.
I had written earlier about my trip to see friends in greater Phoenix over this July 4th weekend, which was a blast. The crowning event of my summer that was already full of high points was finally having taken one form of the Great American Road Trip that I have mentioned many times here at CC as part of my wish list. This wasn’t a cross-country journey, as I had previously envisioned would be the case, but was rather a canvassing of Michigan over the course of nine days in August, with each stop facilitating a visit with friends, family, or loved ones from one period of my life or another.
The majestic Bluewater Bridge. Port Huron, Michigan.
My standby rental car agency in my neighborhood didn’t have the compact I had reserved and had offered to upgrade me for free to a fast-looking Dodge Charger with something like 200 miles on it. Concerned about gas mileage and with all of the driving I was going to be doing, and in the interest of taking this trip within a reasonable budget, I opted for the newish Subaru Outback that was also newly available and the only other available choice.
The Hotel Royal Oak. (Detroit suburb) Royal Oak, Michigan. I needed one motel night to myself.
Through on-the-spot internet research on my phone, I was able to find out that the Outback was likely to yield about 5 mpg more in combined highway-city driving than a six cylinder-equipped Charger, so I felt good about that choice. As I pulled onto DuSable Lake Shore Drive on my way out of the city and toward Michigan, I took this as Exhibit B or C of how I must be maturing by selecting a Subaru station wagon over a cool-looking Charger based on practical considerations like gas mileage. I’m sure I looked like a suburban soccer dad behind the wheel, but I didn’t care. The Subaru was a joy to drive, intuitive in its controls, and had plenty of room in the cargo area aft of the rear seats for the all the gifts I was going to deliver to everyone. (That was fun.) It also delivered on fuel economy.
En route to see friends in Otisville, Michigan, maybe a half-hour outside of Flint in Genesee County.
My first stop was to beautiful Huyck Lake in Coldwater, at the southern end of the state, probably not more than forty-five minutes driving distance from where my grandparents’ farm used to be in northwestern Ohio. After an overnight stay that included s’mores by the firepit as crickets chirped and fireflies glowed, I headed northeast all the way to Alpena. I absolutely loved staying just one night at my friends’ homes, and I would fall asleep smiling each night, a little hoarse from all the talking and laughter that had ensued. The next stop was to Lexington in the “thumb”, not far from Port Huron. We played euchre, the most awesomely Michigan of card games. At my friends’ suggestion, I later drove to the Bluewater Bridge on a drizzly morning to get some pictures of that beautiful structure. It was a serendipitous moment that a giant freighter happened to be passing beneath when I got there.
At the Back To The Bricks car festival. Downtown Flint, Michigan.
After a visit the next day with my Aunt Peggy and a high school friend in greater Detroit, I finally headed back home to Flint and its surrounding areas during the week of the famous Back To The Bricks car festival. It was my first time at this event since 2019 and since a host of personal life changes. I stayed at the home of one of my oldest friends in life (since the summer of 1980) and her family that week. As we all watched many of our generation’s favorite, old shows (In Living Color) and movies (I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka), it solidified in my mind what a great idea it had been to make this trip, and how blessed I had been that it had gone off without a hitch. I am loved, and my love is also valued.
I used to get really sad when I’d leave Flint after the car festival week was over. This time was different. Being fully present the whole time and having seen so many people I care about had made all the difference. I didn’t waste an iota of time or energy during this trip, not needing to recover from any crazy, late nights out or any other such thing. I did all of the things this summer, with the same kind of exuberance on display in the styling of this ’59 Cadillac. My summer 2023 felt like it was also 225 inches long, 80.2 inches wide, and 56.2 inches tall, on a whopping 130-inch wheelbase. Just as the style and general demeanor of later Cadillacs was much more subdued, I am now ready for the next cooler, calmer season. Thank you for letting me share my trip with you. I will always look back at summer 2023 with great joy and for inspiration of what is possible.
Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, July 30, 2023.
Thanks for sharing your summertime adventures Joseph, wonderful you had so many great times, and memories. Excellent photos, documenting the fun!
Nice Caddy pics. Perfect summation of 1950s excess, in automotive form.
Your positive energy and fresh perspectives, always bring a tremendous value to this site! Thank you!
Would have been fun if they brought Carl Weathers and Ja’Net DuBois together again in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. LOL’ed at this scene as a little kid.
Thank you, Daniel! And “Sucka” is a classic. I always forget that it predated “In Living Color”. The Wayanses – such an incredibly talented family. I also used to watch “Good Times” most recently after work. I had seen all the episodes, so a little break, and I’m sure I’ll be ready to dive right back in.
Don’t know this show, but sure know Sucka! More below.
Looking like a turquoise Shark surrounded by gray, bland Remora…Great write-up.
Although I do see a bright blue parrot fish in the second picture down. 😉
Thanks, Dean – and the metaphor works (metaphors work) perfectly.
Hoping that classic gets some OEM wheels and wide whites stat! She deserves it!
Glad you had an excellent summer, Joesph!
Sam: I’m thinking those caps are off a 1989/1990 base DeVille. At least it looks like them to me. But they don’t belong on this car. haha.
Thanks, Sam! And the wheel covers do look a bit incongruous, but they’ve got the Wreath & Crest on them, so that’s points.
” I’m sure I looked like a suburban soccer dad behind the wheel… ”
You probably looked more like a mountain trekking resident of Vermont or Colorado. Soccer dads (around here) drive giant pickups or underlined dual motor Teslas.
Soccer moms drive full length Escalades, Suburbans, or dual motor Teslas (no underline).
Some descriptions of GM’s 1959 offerings include the words “irrational exuberance”. In this essay, “joyful exuberance” seems more appropriate.
It is good to see you enjoying this time in your life and not wasting ” … an iota of time or energy during this trip, not needing to recover from any crazy, late nights out or any other such thing. ” .
“A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.” — Irish Proverb
Great points! Maybe I associate these Outbacks with that demographic only because I see so many of them in the upper middle-class, single-family home neighborhood five minutes walking distance from my own abode. I wonder sometimes if Edgewater Glen has a higher concentration of Outbacks than in other parts of Chicago, or in Illinois!
Was the Eldorado a sub-model of the Series 62? They certainly offered Eldorado convertibles in 1959.
You’re correct – the Eldorado was on the series 62 platform. I suppose I was talking about convertibles among the two, lower rungs (Series 62 and DeVille). I’ll just delete that sentence, as it will just be easier that way.
I really enjoyed your encapsulation of your memorable summer! Yes – that 1959 Cadillac is the mascot for your 2023. It is good that you took advantage of these events from your lifetime. It makes one really think when you are behind the wheel and reliving your youth. Thanks to fatherhood, I’ve been doing that often, watching my kids experience what I had experienced back in high school and thinking back about how blessed I had been at their age. So much of that is car-based. Breaking away to experience a life without family, makes being back with them on your terms, quite an experience, right?
I suppose that someone had to make a car like this Cadillac in 1959. How can one know you’ve gone too far, unless you go too far? The luxury makes in 1959 revealed to all the limits of auto design excess. While there are many brands chasing the “end of the rainbow”, with fins, chrome, and colors – the Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial from 1959 were each make’s interpretation of a ready-made luxury parade float. Fantastically grotesque.
” How can one know you’ve gone too far, unless you go too far? “.
This such an appropriate statement about so many things in life, especially car designs. Well said VanillaDude.
Thank you so much. It’s so interesting now that my friends have kids that are now the age I was when I was hanging out with their parents to understand, to your point, how blessed I was. And also how thankful I am for those friendships to have not only lasted, but thrived all these years later. I thought of this often as I was driving from destination to destination.
That is a feat.
My older brother had a ’59 Cadillac Sedan Deville in the same turquoise color. He bought it from an uncle of ours who did not doing much, if any, maintenance on it so it was 00rusty and ran poorly. But, hey, it was a’ 59 Caddy! He drove it for a few years having more and more problems with it. Finally one winter in Minneapolis, it was towed during a snow emergency because he couldn’t get it running to move it. He decided that was a good way to get rid of the car since the fees to get the car back were more that it was worth.
Later the next spring he again had his car towed to the same impound lot (a reaccuring problem he seem to have) and saw the Caddy sitting there with 4 flat tires. That was the last he saw of it.
A sad end to your brother’s ’59, but I like his thought process! “Hey, it’s a ’59 Caddy!”
Right on. I’m also surprised to read what sounds like this color might have been factory. I suppose I shouldn’t be all that surprised, though – it seems like Cadillac has a lot of bespoke-looking colors from the factory, up to a certain point.
Glad you had a fun summer — I definitely had a great one as well. 2023 and an aqua ’59 Caddy for the win!
Thank you so much! I think that in both of our cases, this great summer yielded some very cool subject cars for CC, which is always a measure of some success!
CC needs a scientific study of fin height. I assert that the ’59 Cadillac’s aren’t actually higher than some Mopar’s, rather the downward curve of the body line leading to the nacelle makes it appear taller than it is. Likewise, the low, flat top roof.
There was a short stretch of years in which the 60 Special shared the wheelbase of the Deville and Series 62 instead of its typical 3″ stretch. I suppose they were losing too much money on the Eldorado Brougham.
Sounds like a legitimate QOTD topic to me.
There are probably few other ways to symbolize living well than driving a turquoise 1959 Cadillac – glad to see your summer was great!
Thanks, William!
It had never occur to me to compare a season with a car, but you have made it look like a natural thing. The summer you describe sounds so very 1959 Cadillac.
It is a real experience seeing one of these beasts actually moving about out in the real world. There are so many photos online, or the occasional parked convertible at a car show among all the other classics, but seeing one of these out in the real world is almost mind-blowing. How could anything be that low, that bulbous but still sharp, that long, that low?
It definitely has a jaw-droppingly larger-than-life presence as it came wafting down Sheridan. Like, were my eyes seeing what they were seeing?
You’ve got me thinking about what kind of car would best represent winter in my mind. Or any other the other seasons. Hmmm.
A friend has a 59 Cadillac one of the few 4 door hardtops built RHD, its a big car but not on the inside, my C5 has far more rear leg room
Great points about interior space. A car’s external dimensions often don’t align with how much space is on the inside, especially before more attention was paid to efficiency and packaging starting in the late ’70s (at least in the U.S.).
It seems like GM has forgotten. Cadillacs stopped having reasonable levels of rear seat legroom again when they stopped being full-sized FWD barges.
I totally agree.
And thanks for a great metaphor….as always.
This summer I met up with two friends in Bentonville, Arkansas to tour the area and its many attractions and to drive down to Little Rock to see the Clinton Library and Museum. We too were upgraded from a compact to a bigger car, in this case a Dodge Charger. None of the three of us like big cars so we were not altogether pleased. However, we all ended up praising the car. It was tight, quiet, not a squeak or a rattle, rode beautifully, the six-cylinder offered smooth power and the 8-speed automatic shifted seamlessly. In addition, the highway mileage was outstanding. I now understand why I see so many Chargers around, even in SoCal. That Cadillac – ugh – horrified when it came out when I was a kid and still feel the same way today. A neighbor got one new, couldn’t wait to trade for the gorgeous new 61. Glad you had a great summer; I did as well.
That sounds like a fun trip! And I’m pleased to know your Charger experience was a good one. When I had returned from my Michigan trip, some of my friends expressed that I should have just gone with the Charger, though I defended my Subaru choice.
Honestly, though, I wonder what the difference in fuel economy would have been with the Charger versus what I got with the Subaru. I had asked an engineer friend (Tameka had worked on the interior of the original Chevy Volt) if Stellantis would have put spoilers and exterior “sporty” things on a six-cylinder Charger, and basically her answer was that, Yes, they would – the car is in something like it’s final season, and there are parts to be used.
Still, it looked way, way faster than the Outback, and even if I consider myself a good driver, I wouldn’t have wanted to attract that kind of attention on the expressway.
I’m glad you also had a good summer!
Nice ;
I didn’t like these until fairly recently but they have tremendous presence .
-Nate
Another great Tuesday story. And photos of a ‘59 Cadillac in motion! About 15 years ago we got stuck in Chicago en route to northern Wisconsin to visit family, in December. We barely landed in O’Hare with heavy snow, boarded the flight to Rhinelander, and the airport was shut down. No flights in the morning, but we we were able to get to a rental agency that promised us an Outback, which I figured would be useful (we had a Forester back home). By the time we got to the counter all they had was a V6 Chrysler 300 – not a Charger, but close. It turned out to be a comfortable ride for four, with surprisingly good snow manners AND better mpg than our (turbo) Subaru.
Thank you! And I’m impressed to learn that a larger, RWD car like a Chrysler 300 behaved well in the snow. I will miss the 300 / Charger cousins when they’re gone.
Lovely stuff, Mr D. And glad your summer was a good one. (I’m a bit apprehensive that our coming one down here will be a bit nasty: El Nino is now the confirmed prediction, and I’ve already lived through two long versions of that, and those before climate change, but I’m digressing).
Some time in 1988, I was dragged by friends to a slightly alternative cinema to see some film called I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka. Seriously? What’s this crap? WTF am I doing this for? There are perhaps 40 people here, what the hell?
Now, it’s probably partly because this preposterously silly, childishly-idiotic film took me by absolute surprise – but I have never laughed so much in my life. God, it was such glorious fun! We were in one those massive old ’20’s 1000-seat cinema joints (now long gone), in the balcony, and I nearly rolled off it. I still find the damn film funny. Hell, it still IS funny.
One day, I shall find the real Big Brim Bar, I will, and ask “How much for a sip of Coke?”
Justy ;
If possible go to the beach after El Nino gets going, I took my then young son to the Ca. beaches in my old 1931 ‘A’ Model Ford Coupe and we found scads of really cool shells washed up on the shore .
Sadly, most of the old “Art House” movie theaters in So. Cal. seem to have closed up .
All through the 70’s & 80’s I’d get the flyers and go to the late shows of hilariously funny or just obscure & weird movies .
Then in the early 80’s I got to take my son to Charlie Chaplin festivals, he loved them but is now too cool to enjoy those or “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” .
-Nate
Loved reading this. It’s funny, how sometimes the things we’re initially resistant to becoming the things we enjoy the most. And Chris Rock never disappoints.
You certainly had a great summer. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed seeing the Bluewater Bridge. I live about 3 hours north on the Canadian side but have never visited the Michigan side. You might have inspired me. Many years ago I had friends who lived in Sarnia. They said that in high school the area along the river was a popular “parking” spot after dates. The local term was “watching the submarine races”. That expression caught my sense of humour.
Even though I haven’t been a Michigander for years (though in my heart I will always be one), I heartily recommend a visit.
When I was in high school, some of my skateboarding friends used to drive to Sarnia from Flint for a skate park there that was amazing (I didn’t skateboard, so I didn’t go and don’t know if it even exists anymore).
In a reverse of what you’ve said, I’ve been wanting to visit Canada for a while now. I really feel like several cities in your beautiful country are calling my name…
… Just reading this fine article after an initial post of over 2/two weeks ago. Ever been to Albuquerque, NM? I moved away from there just over 10/ten years ago. While there, I was always amazed at the vintage vehicles I saw as daily drivers. I also learned the value of having a camera in my vehicle at all times (this was prior to smart phones and the quantity of the images captured on a flip-phone were not always desirable).
One beautiful, clear, Spring weekday morning I was on my way to a medical appointment. I always travel the surface streets and my path took me past an older – though meticulously maintained – local (non-chain) auto mechanic business. The business faced East and the sun was just above the mountains. As I was passing the business, I noticed all 3/three garage bays had their doors up and the lifts within each one was raised. I could not believe what I saw; though I did not have my digital camera with me, the image is still sharp in my mind. Upon each lift was a ’59 Cadillac… A steel blue one, a rouge-rose one, and a metallic/mint green one. I could not deccifer what model or type they were, though with the back-end of each toward the rising sun, it was clear what I was seeing. It seemed like a time-warp! I wondered if it was a rare coincidence that these were there together or that their owner was getting them ready for the Summer driving season. A photographic opportunity lost though a treasured memory that has persisted.
Every time I pass through Albuquerque I make a point of stopping in the self service junkyard there, always a few oldies with unobtanium parts I want .
-Nate
Thank you so much, and I loved all of your imagery. Reading this, it almost felt like I was there. I have never been to NM, but have definitely been giving more thought to more destination travel. That’s one part of the U.S. I haven’t spent time in. I did really enjoy my recent visits to Arizona and Nevada.